Archive for May, 2010

Ok, so we got into the new office and have the server set up just fine. It took a week and a half to work through some of the connection issues with Comcast, but I think I have them all sorted out now. On the bright side, you should see an immediate improvement in load times for the videos – our new internet connection is blazing fast!

Thank you for your patience, and sorry for any hiccups over the last couple of weeks.

As you’ve probably noticed, the blog has a slightly new look to it. Please let me know what you think of the new theme. Do you prefer the old one? Have a suggestion on how to make it better? Leave a comment to this blog and I will see what I can do.

Also, the website will be down for about a day sometime soon, probably early next week. We’ll be moving the server to my new office in Modesto and will have to be offline while the server travels. Sorry in advance for any inconvenience – I’ll send out an email before we take the server offline letting you know the exact planned downtime.

We spent nearly a week at Puerto Escondido after LoretoFest, and we did many things. Some interesting, some not so much. So about the interesting stuff –

Muggs is fascinated by birds, and she caught this one up in the rigging. If anyone can identify this bird from a North American Field Guide, she would much appreciate it. I have a Mexico Bird Guide, but it does not include pictures of birds that are already pictured in the North American books:

He has a sparrow-like shape. The color starts red at the head and fades gradually to lime-green-yellow below. Thanks for your help – there are lots of these birds around here in the anchorage.

The most fun things that happened this week were both with our new friends, Larry and Dianne of Sea Toy. On Wednesday, we tried to change the oil in the engine. Larry discovered the previously mysterious source of the oily bilge water – a leak in one of his plastic oil jugs! So we dinghied over to the dinghy dock just as Larry and Dianne were coming out to find us! Long story short, we got a free ride into town (sure beats a $35 cab ride) AND special service straight to the oil store first, then the liquor store. We stocked up on the most important fluids on the boat and then went for a drive up a dusty beach road to a beautiful waterfront palapa-style restaurant with amazing, wonderful food! It just got better after that as the food arrived and we swooned. Larry ate shrimp quesadillas, and I had to make sure he didn’t take more than his share! Larry is not a big seafood eater – these were just the world’s greatest quesadillas, that’s all. All this for us because Larry and Dianne wanted to move their boat, which they didn’t manage to do that day!

The next day we had a planned outing with them to Mission San Javier. You will find this in Baja guidebooks where it is written up as the most important outing to be made from Loreto. What a beautiful place! After first taking us into Loreto for cash and paper towels (sometimes boaters’ needs are very basic!), we went up a paved road that quickly lost its paving. Then we bounced along on the hard-packed dirt and rocks (mostly small) for about 45 minutes. Along the way, we made a stop at a creek with some cave paintings nearby:

Cave painting

R to L, Larry, Dianne, and his other brother Larry!

I know I promised you a waterfall in my last posting, but this is as close as I got. Not bad for just by the road – no hiking involved. It’s too hot for hiking right now.

Then we completed the trip to the mission with great views along the way:

The cactus may not seem impressive in these photos, but it is very impressive up close and personal. The cardon cactus grows for over a century, maybe two centuries. The base becomes very large, and the woody structure becomes exposed as the green outer skin thrives on the upper branches. And there are other types that are also fascinating – cholla, agave, and elephant come to mind (I am forgetting the complete name of the elephant bush – maybe Dianne will let us know).

Then the mission church comes into view with two domes:

I think Dianne said that the Spanish brought in the palm trees to these canyons. Many of the Baja canyons have palm trees that were imported by the Spanish. Imagine that, so long ago!

The architectural details of the church were many and all fascinating. This one is special – a metal-sculpture wind vane:

The plaza leading into town and the church are beautiful with lots of special stone paving and flowers everywhere:

The town here is relatively prosperous with many agricultural products and artisan work being sold in Loreto and distributed from there to other areas. The agricultural all thrives because of the water, naturally. But for many years (decades), the town’s electricity has all come from this generator:

But there are signs of the future all along the road. Electrical utility lines are installed from Loreto to about two-thirds of the way up the road, and many of the rest of the poles are delivered in stacks at various spots along the way as you drive up the mountain. The town itself is READY:

Meter boxes!

Then we had a great drive back. The light was fading fast, but early I caught a few good shots:

Flower of the agave cactus.

Larry and Dianne

Agriculture — green things growing in the desert! And finally, dinner back in Loreto:

Our friends on Aquadesiac, Ubuntu, and Blue Dolphin may recognize this restaurant. It is the same one us four couples wandered into when we stopped for lunch on our trip to Loreto several days before. We wandered into one of the best restaurants in Loreto according to Larry and Dianne!

Aquadesiac –

had already left Puerto Escondido a couple of days before. Finally, after our big day with Larry and Dianne, we left along with Ubuntu and Blue Dolphin:

That’s Peregrine rafted up to Blue Dolphin at the water dock. Ubuntu’s barbecue shows in the lower right corner of the picture. All three boats are visible here through the tangle of rigging:

We gave our boats a thorough fresh-water bath as this is a luxury we had paid for with our mooring fees, and we weren’t going to pass it up.

When we set out, we headed for a cove called Puerto Ballandra where Aquadesiac had been playing already for a couple of days. Here, we got our first REAL manta ray sighting. Not just one or two or three or four, but dozens. I don’t know what you call these large groups of animals, but there were about a zillion at our last count. They jump out of the water for no obvious reason. Some guess that they are slapping off parasites, others think it is a feeding technique. I think it looks like they are just playing and having fun. I took about thirty unsuccessful photos of this action, but my friend Susie Crabtree of SV Catch the Wind got a picture of one while she was cruising:

Sometimes, they are jumping straight at you so you see the big mouths and white bellies. They sometimes jump two, three, or four at the same time. We have figured out that they travel in these large groups almost all the time, but only some of the animals will be jumping at any given time. I DID get a really good shot using the camera as a video camera, so Patrick will be posting that soon.

Aquadesiac (middle) and Blue Dolphin (left) at anchor:

(Sorry about the smudges – these are the lens cap which stopped fully retracting all the time. It took me a few shots to figure out how to fix this.)

The sunset at Ballandra was one of our most spectacular so far:

We almost missed this because we were so busy yakking and drinking in the cockpit. Then someone yelled, “Hey, look at the sunset!” and here you are. Next day, we played in dinghies and kayaks. Some of us saw a bright red starfish. He was the color of a ripe strawberry and clinging to brown-gray rocks. Pretty amazing sight. Lots of fish (look up the King Angelfish) and occasional rays jumping at random for fun.

Next day, we motor-sailed to Isla Coronados by way of Bahia Salinas. This actually makes no sense if you look it up on a map, but that’s the way the plans are around here – changeable on a moment’s notice. Doug of Aquadesiac has named us the Ballandra Fleet for purposes of radio hailing. As our flat calm sea turned into a blustery SE wind and seas, he called the fleet and suggested we change destinations from the east-facing Salinas to the west-facing Isla Coronados. We all readily agreed, and four boats turned 180 degrees to reverse course. The admirals set the new waypoints, and off we went. During this passage, we had a short visit from dolphins, and I got another fair picture of two:

I also got a shot of the pod as they glided along in front of us:

The “fleet”:

About 30 minutes before this picture, we were all beating into 4’ seas (at 2 seconds on center – imagine it. No fun!) with 18 knots of wind. The wind waves in the Sea of Cortez are short but very close together. They create a not-so-nice ride with lots of bow crashing and splashing. You can see the wisdom of Doug’s idea to change course in this picture. That’s Isla Coronados, our new destination, on the left.

Along the way, we passed this islet with light:

Isla Coronados is another beautiful cove with good protection from all sides but west. We are currently riding out the end of a short norther. Earlier this afternoon, we had 18 knots of breeze here in the anchorage, but now it’s only 10-12 and the difference is bigger than it sounds. Because we always start our days late (remember, we are cruisers, not fishermen), and then the breeze came up, there has been very little off-boat activity today. But Kathy of Blue Dolphin came over to show Larry and me how to use our new sewing machine:

Larry was going solo very quickly:

What do you think, Annie – a new career. His first project was a cargo net to hold back some of the stuff that keeps falling out of cupboards around here (one more reason to stay away from splashing and crashing.)

But the BIG highlight of the day was WHALES!! Two of them right here in our anchorage, and they were jumping and carrying on something fierce:

There are two animals in this picture.

The end of a jump – big splash. I got another decent video, so watch for that from Patrick soon, too. These whales (there were two) traveled around our anchorage for about thirty minutes before they left. While they were playing off this beach, they spy-hopped – straight-up jumps one showing about 10 feet of his body – and they tail flapped. You will see a good one in the video. Again, at least ten feet of the body comes clearly out of the water in the tail flapping. I don’t understand how they can do that.

Later, there were a few more rays jumping. Then the wind came up more, and now it is dying (around 7:15 pm). Larry has just served meatloaf, and I think this day is just about done.

Hoping all is well with y’all. Until next time, this is Admiral Muggs off the sailing vessel Peregrine:

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Patrick’s Edits:

Muggs sent me the following three movies to add to this post. Please note that the movies have to download fully before they’ll play, so you will likely get a bit of a delay where it looks like nothing is happening. Please give it a minute or five – they’re pretty big!

We departed La Paz on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. First order of business is to check out with the Port Captain. I’ve been told he speaks English, but I always speak Spanish with him. Today went well. He finally wished us “Buen Viaje!” (Good travels!) We motored out of the Bay and found wind a little after two o’clock. We motor-sailed since the seas were lumpy, and we were anxious to get to our first stop with time left to relax. Other cruising friends will be following us tomorrow – Doug and Linda of Aquadesiac and Robert and Kathy of Blue Dolphin. Steve and Arlene of Ubuntu got out here a day or so earlier and were already in the anchorage when we arrived at 24 deg 33.836 N 110 deg 24.259 W. There was enough breeze to kick up some white caps, barely visible in this picture looking back at the El Mogote peninsula resort north of La Paz:

We got some splashing at the bow. It was such a beautiful day that Muggs is beginning to actually like this!

Skipper had a nap:

We anchored in the middle lobe of Ensenada Grande. There were other boats, including Ubuntu, already taking the prime spots in the larger south lobe. The boat in this picture helps to illustrate the geography:

Next day, Aquadesiac and Blue Dolphin came into Caleta Partida, about an hour south of our location. So we went back and joined them but not until the skipper had his breakfast!

At Caleta Partida, we launched the dinghy

and went ashore. We didn’t get very far, though. The beach was covered with Fiddler crabs!! Little crabs, about 1 1/2 inches across, with one tiny claw for eating and out great big claw for mating! Ouch! They were all scooting across the beach like an army – in rows and columns as far as the eye could see! Got our first pic of Aquadesiac:

Look at that water! As we dinghied over to the beach, we saw two long (3 or 4 feet long) very thin fish – perhaps some kind of trumpet fish – chasing each other, or so it seemed. They were swimming verrry fast in about 30 inches of water. Very cool sight.

That evening, we all gathered on Blue Dolphin for drinks and things. Linda made an outstanding cheese—taco dip.

Next day we departed for Evaristo on the peninsula of Baja. Today the wind was so fine that we set the spinnaker. Through the wonders of friendship and high technology, Aquadesiac contributed these terrific pictures:

Muggs took a few pics from the deck:

Many thanks to Rooster of Rooster Sails back in Alameda for this beautiful sail!

Aquadesiac making tracks toward Evaristo.

At anchor in Evaristo – 24 deg 54.69 N 110 deg 42.33 W.

Those of you who have been paying attention may recognize this unusual sailboat. :

This is a 80 foot custom-design schooner, hailing port Panama, that we watched during its arrival at Marina Palmira last December. In this anchorage, they were truly just one of the crowd. We ALL were moving around at anchor that night. There was a bit of breeze. The anchors tend to hold well here in the sand, and no one dragged.

Blue Dolphin is also a ketch:

That is Aquadesiac immediately behind and to the right.

We gathered on Peregrine for drinks and good times:

Robert and Kathy – Blue Dolphin

Doug and Linda – Aquadesiac

Next day (Tuesday, April 27, if you’re keeping track), we headed for Puerto Los Gatos. Left early afternoon. Early morning starts are for fishermen!! Today, I saw manta rays jump. That is an incredible sight which I don’t think we will ever catch on film. There is no warning, and they are only out of the water for about two or three seconds.

We sailed today, then motor-sailed, then sailed again. It was a beautiful day. Caught Blue Dolphin in the act:

Then Tucker, the Dog:

Took some travelogue pics:

Arrived at anchor around 6:00 pm – 25 deg 17.8 N 110 deg 56.6 W.

At this port, we gathered on Aquadesiac for drinks and things (I think – it all runs together in my mind!).

At Puerto Los Gatos, there is a long reef that sticks out into the bay. Next morning, we all congregated there by dinghy. The divers – Kathy on Blue Dolphin and Doug on Aquadesiac – went diving, Larry snorkeled, and the rest of us watched from dinghies. Linda and I took a walk on the beach with Tucker:

Skipper and I decided to move on again that afternoon (around 1:30), so we headed to Agua Verde. Today we had the very best sea life sightings of the trip so far – first manta rays up close enough to see their true size and shape, then two dolphins at the bow long enough to take over a dozen pictures. Here are the best:

We anchored in beautiful Agua Verde around 5:00. Position 25 deg 30.938 N 111 deg 3.757 W. We radioed Fonatur Escondido (the harbor master at Puerto Escondido) to confirm our scheduled arrival for tomorrow on mooring ball #70. We thought we were the only boat to travel today, but Ubuntu pulled in around 7:00.

Looking the opposite direction, just a few minutes later:

More travelogue pics as we left the next day:

Solitary Rock

Pyramid Rock

What do you think – Mexico’s Mt. Rushmore, maybe:

We are headed to Puerto Escondido. We had a great sail today for about 20 minutes. Then Mother Nature kicked in some more serious stuff – 25-30 knots of wind with 5-6 foot waves at 2 seconds. We were bouncing around a lot. I used the floor as a table to make my cereal. But the boat did fine, as usual. There is a tight spot for navigation through here. We were a little nervous, but the waypoints we had worked perfectly. Another boat followed us because they were nervous! Blue Dolphin caught up with us and passed us:

There is no internet service here because there are so many boats gathered for the LoretoFest. Cell phones are at one bar, but I successfully made a couple of calls.

Friday we are back in the swing of land-based activities and spending money. The four day break was too short! There are many friends from La Paz here, though, and we are having another great time.

The Skipper and wench on the left are Jesse and Shanna of Jesse’s Girl. Larry met Shanna last year on the ‘08 HaHa (OK, a year and a half ago, but everything around here goes by season, not the actual calendar. For you working types, it’s sort of a cruiser’s fiscal year!) Then Linda and Doug of Aquadesiac. Muggs took this picture, and she apologizes for its awfulness. It’s the only picture we’ve taken of people at this fest so far.

Friday and Saturday night, Larry learned some basics of juggling, and he actually did pretty well. His best was three balls juggled for 4 rotations – not bad for a first-timer. I took some still-camera video of Friday night’s first efforts which I will forward to the webmaster. Look for future postings!

And now, time is running out. Last night (Saturday), Muggs finally met Larry and Dianne of SeaToy. They were also on the ‘08 HaHa. They have built a home down here and consider themselves local residents. They are mucho fun and saved Larry from mental destruction after his fairly awful HaHa ride that year. There will be more about them later as we stay here a few days and visit and see the sights. I have just been told that we are going for a hike to a water fall. That is an amazing concept – a waterfall in the desert! Off I go so that I may report to you later whether it is real or the old fakeroo.

Now, if I can just get a few minutes of my allotted on-line time, I will upload this report. See you again real soon!